Josh Harding suspended indefinitely.

The Minnesota Wild announced late Thursday night that the team and goaltender Darcy Kuemper have agreed to terms on a two-year contract. The one-way deal, first reported via Twitter by TSN’s Bob McKenzie, is worth $2.5 million overall and pays Kuemper $1 million this season and $1.5 million in 2015-16.

Earlier in the day, according to the Minneapolis StarTribune’s Michael Russo, Wild GM Chuck Fletcher made the decision to suspend injured goaltender Josh Harding due to the nature of his off-ice injury. Harding, who reportedly broke his right foot kicking a wall during an altercation with a teammate, will not be paid during his indefinite injury absence and his salary will not count against the team’s salary cap. Kuemper, on the other hand, will be paid and possibly more than he otherwise would have.

Kuemper appeared destined to be a training camp holdout with each side digging its heels in over the type of contract the Wild’s sixth-round selection (No. 161 overall) in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft would sign. Minnesota had been offering a two-way contract meaning Kuemper would earn less playing for the Wild’s AHL affiliate in Iowa than he would in St. Paul. Kuemper and his agent felt the 6-foot-5, 205-pound Saskatoon, Sask. native had done enough in his 32 overall NHL appearances with the Wild (13-10-4 with a 2.37 GAA, a .915 SV%) to earn a one-way deal and the guaranteed NHL salary it represented.

But with Kuemper not requiring waivers to be sent down at this stage of his young career, the two-way offer made perfect sense to GM Chuck Fletcher considering both Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding were expected to arrive at training camp healthy. Harding’s injury, however, necessitated a change of plan despite the Wild’s signing of free-agent Ilya Bryzgalov to a professional tryout contract.

Kuemper, 24, went 12-8-4 with a 2.43 goals-against average (GAA), a .915 save percentage (SV%) and two shutouts in 26 regular season games with Minnesota in 2013-14. He set franchise records for a rookie goaltender in wins, shutouts and consecutive starts with 16 (1/12/14-3/8/14).

He ranked second in starts, tied for third in shutouts, fourth in SV% and tied for fourth in wins and GAA amongst rookie goalies that appeared in at least 10 games last season. Kuemper was named the NHL Third Star of the Week on March 3 after going 3-0-0 with a .970 GAA, .960 SV% and a shutout in three starts.

Kuemper went 3-1-1 with a 2.03 GAA, a .913 SV% and one shutout in six playoff contests for Minnesota. He stopped all 22 shots faced in a 1-0 overtime win in Game 3 against Colorado on April 21, 2014, the first playoff shutout in franchise history.

Wild players and coaches skate together for the first time this season tomorrow with the first group taking the ice at 8:30 a.m. at Xcel Energy Center.

The post Wild, Kuemper Agree to Terms appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

 Harding, Kuemper out, Bryzgalov back in as Wild goalie saga continues.

It has been just over four months since the Minnesota Wild left the Xcel Energy Center ice stunned by an unfortunate bounce and the greatness that is Patrick Kane. While changes have since been made, one thing in particular remarkably remains the same.

The Wild opens training camp on Friday with shiny new acquisition Thomas Vanek skating with his new teammates—officially—for the first time. But Vanek will not be sharing the ice with goaltenders Josh Harding and Darcy Kuemper as coach Mike Yeo and his staff begin the process of assembling the 2014-15 roster.

That roster may yet include goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov who was victimized by Kane’s Game 5 overtime winner which was thought to have ended Bryz’s Wild career after 21 combined regular season and playoff appearances.

Wild G Darcy Kuemper makes one of his 27 saves in a 3-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Sat. March 22. (MHM Photo/ Jeff Wegge)

But with Darcy Kuemper in the midst of his second lengthy contract battle in as many negotiations with the team and Josh Harding suddenly sidelined indefinitely with a fractured right foot suffered under mysterious circumstances, the Wild’s goaltending, once again, had all the depth of a kiddie pool.

The Minneapolis StarTribune’s Michael Russo reported late Wednesday afternoon that Bryzgalov had accepted a professional tryout contract offer from Minnesota and will arrive on Thursday. This, of course, came as little surprise considering the way Bryz has spent the offseason openly lobbying for a return to the Wild and raving about the organization.

Wild goaltender Josh Harding makes a save in shutting out New Jersey on Nov. 3, 2013 in St. Paul, Minn. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

Bryzgalov, a trade-deadline acquisition last spring, is now in line to back up de facto No. 1 netminder Niklas Backstrom, who at 36-years-old is coming off abdominal and hip surgeries which ended his injury-marred 2013-14 season.  Veteran John Curry and prospect Johan Gustafsson are also expected to compete but the job is essentially Bryzgalov’s to lose pending any progress between the Wild and Kuemper’s camp.

In addition to Vanek, Minnesota’s now 57-man training camp roster features the return of former Wild forward Cody Almond vying for a spot among a much deeper corps of forwards than he skated with in playing 25 games over parts of three seasons from 2009-2012. Vanek, Zach Parise, Jason Pominville, Mikael Granlund, and Charlie Coyle are more than a cut above Antti Miettinen, Guillaume Latendresse and Devin Setoguchi.

Look for Almond to compete with Jason Zucker and Stephane Veilleux for the final two forward spots on the roster unless a young prospect emerges.

Local notables up front include Jordan Schroeder, the former Gopher drafted by Vancouver in the first round (No. 22 overall) in 2009 and Rosemount’s Ryan Walters, a UFA who played for Dean Blais at Nebraska Omaha and earned his invitation with six points (3 g, 3 a) in the 2014 Prospect Tournament in Traverse, City, Mich.

The blue line competition is far more interesting with up to six players in contention for what likely are just two open spots. The battle between Christian Folin, John Blum, Justin Falk, Stu Bickel, Matt Dumba and Gustav Olofsson will be something to keep an eye on as we progress through camp and the preseason games. Any or all of them could easily see at least some NHL action this season.

Players on the roster when Kane scored his series-clinching goal but have since departed include the likes of Dany Heatly (Anaheim), Matt Moulson (Buffalo), Cody McCormick (Buffalo), Nate Prosser (St. Louis), Mike Rupp (UFA) and Clayton Stoner (Anaheim). The physical roles McCormick and Stoner played, particularly at the end of the season, will be the toughest for the Wild to fill.

The Wild’s practices on Saturday, Sept. 20 will be open to the public. Fans can enter through Gate 1 beginning at 8:30 a.m. with practices running until 1 p.m. Concessions will be available. Regular season single-game tickets also go on sale that morning at 10 a.m. exclusively at the Xcel Energy Center box office with web availability on the Wild’s web site and Ticketmaster locations beginning at noon.

The pressure is on for Niklas Backstrom to remain healthy this season. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

The post Goalies the Focus as Wild Opens Camp appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Featured Image:
The Wild’s four-game winning streak has cooled coach Mike Yeo’s hot seat.
(Photo: Jeff Wegge/MHM)

I hate it break it to you folks, but your coach is neither as good NOR as bad as you might think.

Regardless of the sport, it’s never just one guy’s fault that a team wins or loses. Players have to play. The best coach can do nothing with a roster full of guys that don’t produce and the worst coach in the world can do everything with a roster of guys that do.

That is why this latest round of “Fire Mike Yeo” campaigners needs to be quiet.  Before last week’s win against lowly Buffalo, Yeo’s seat was the hottest in Minnesota (although literally that’s not saying much since it was -20, but you know what I mean). Yes, the Wild had (at one point) lost six in a row, the last of which was to an Islanders team that despite its talent has managed to stink royally.

But last time I checked, it’s the players that play the game and not the coach.

If you must blame someone, you can start with the rash of injuries. Zach Parise has been out for weeks, Josh Harding missed that entire six-game losing skid and now Mikko Koivu is going to miss a month with a fracture. Keep in mind that I just listed two of the team’s top-five scorers and one of the top goaltenders, not just on their team, but in the NHL. It makes a huge difference.

Since that time the Wild have rattled off four straight wins and Mike Yeo is a brilliant coach once again. How can that be? Yeo has not changed the system, Chuck Flecther did not trade for the league’s leading scorer and the same injuries have not gotten any better. The moral of the story here and in every sport at EVERY level should be that it’s never solely the coaches’ fault. I can tell you this, from the looks and sound of it, Yeo still has the respect of that locker room and that is most important.

In Minnesota we have had a lot of losing seasons in many different sports and I get why people are impatient. But I implore you to have a little more. While Mike Yeo may never be the coach that leads the Wild to the Stanley Cup he should at least have the benefit of time and a healthy roster to give it a shot.

Former Wild coach Todd Richards was not the be all and end all in the NHL, but in my opinion he was not given proper time or a proper roster to flourish in Minnesota. Since he left he’s had two and a half sub-par seasons in Columbus, with a roster that could be described as ‘so-so’ at best. Yet Richards was given an extension this offseason. His team is off to a roughly .500 start – but they are giving him a chance to work his way out of it. Minnesota should do the same.

Yeo’s Wild teams have gone from missing the playoffs, to making it to the first round (and losing to the eventual champs) to where they are now – even with their latest slide. The season isn’t over and there is a lot of hockey left.

Mike Yeo comes from a system in Pittsburgh where they know what it means to win. He’s learned from Dan Bylsma (who sang his praises to me years ago when the NHL draft was in St. Paul).

In this day and age of quick-trigger, hastily-made coaching decisions, Chuck Fletcher and Craig Leipold should hold on this one. Currently the Wild are barely hanging on to the last playoff spot in the West, but there are extenuating circumstances that matter. And the recent winning streak should assure everyone of one thing—in hockey it’s up to the players to win not just the coaches.

And for the record, I HATE the argument that someone has to take the fall for a bad season because you’re unable to fire all the players. Bad teams rarely go from worst to first with something as simple as a new coach, ask the Buffalo Sabres or just ask Minnesota.

The post Schwartz: A Collective Effort appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

If the density of number 22 jersey’s filling seats wasn’t proof that he fell more in the beloved category than the hated, the applause that filled the building during a first period tribute to the returning warrior, surely was.

Tonight, “Know Your Enemy” takes on a friend turned foe who remains a supporter of the boys who now oppose him. With that being said, let’s get reacquainted with a former child of the strong and wild, New York Islanders forward, Cal Clutterbuck.

On a hot July morning this past summer, Cal Clutterbuck stood outside of Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ontario Canada surrounded by Josh Harding, Kyle Brodziak and Tom Gilbert, men, who until recently had not only been trusted friends, but teammates. The men stood quietly chatting, all wearing orange shirts, preparing to golf in the NHLPA’s 21st annual golf classic in the pursuit of raising money for Harding’s Hope.

“Charity events are definitely important,” said Cal before tee off time, “but this one hits a little closer to home, having spent the last year and a half with Josh, it takes on a whole new meaning and it’s the least we can do to be here to support him.”

Cal would go on to lead his foursome of golfers to victory, banking $40,000 for Harding’s Hope and supporting his friend in the process. He also commented on his fresh trade to the Islanders on that hot July morning and while there was no predicting what would come to pass in coming months, he was ready to take on a new challenge in hockey.

“I think it’s a good opportunity for me and a bit of a different scenario. It’s a younger team and kind of growing into maturity,” said Clutterbuck, “I’m looking forward to getting in there with the team at a good stage and growing with them. I think it’ll be a good place for me and for my family as well.”

Unfortunately for Clutterbuck, he suffered a severe leg laceration from a skate during the first exhibition game of the season and found himself sidelined for an extended period of time.

“My injury at the start of the year was pretty tough and it was hard to come back from that.” He continued, “I missed all of training camp but I think things are starting to pick up for me and I’m starting to find my way.”

(MHM Photo/Jeff Wegge)

Injury aside, adjusting to a new city and team can be a challenging all on it’s own, something that Cal commented on, saying, “It’s a lot different even with just coming to the rink every day, coming to a different building, different people. It’s an adjustment period in itself to just get used to your surroundings and the people that are around you every day. Once you get over that I think it’s pretty easy.”

While the adjustment to his new surroundings may have been relatively smooth, Cal says, “It’s not Edina, Minnesota but it’ll do.”

Clutterbuck also felt the video montage welcoming him “home” was nice but unnecessary and when asked about the night he simply stated, “It was nice coming back tonight. Obviously it’s tough playing against some guys who are friends but it was fun. It was a different experience and obviously my first time doing that so I had a blast.”

Whether or not you consider Cal Clutterbuck to be a friend, foe or stuck in that gray relationship area known as a frenemy, there is no denying that at the end of the day he is a player and a man who stands solidly behind his teammates—both past and present—his family and the communities who cheer for him no matter which team colors or number are on his back.

~Quick facts about the NHLPA Charity Golf Classic mentioned in this article courtesy of the NHLPA:

* The tournament has raised over $3.2 Million for various charities throughout the years.

* This year the players competed for a total charity purse of $100,000, with the winning team receiving $40,000 for their designated charity, followed by $25,000 and so on.

* Team captains were: Josh Harding (Harding’s Hope); David Clarkson (Clarky’s Kids); Cory Conacher (JDRF); Marty Biron (Harding’s Hope); Chris Campoli (Look Good Feel Better).

* The following players were playing for Josh’s charity: Dominic Moore, Kyle Brodziak, Cal Clutterbuck, Tom Gilbert; Dwayne Roloson and Marty Biron.

*Make sure you’re following @MNHockeyMag on Twitter for all of our latest articles, game updates and events! You can also follow the author of this article @AmySnow17!*

The post Know Your…Frenemy? New York Islanders Cal Clutterbuck appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Featured Image:
Mikko Koivu registered his team-leading 19th and 20th assists in Minnesota’s 3-2 SO win over Vancouver on Thursday night in St. Paul.
(MHM File Photo/Jeff Wegge)

On a night where Minnesota returned home for the only time in a 21 day stretch to face an old division foe, the Wild took a bit of the road back with them to the Xcel Energy Center.

Charlie Coyle scored the game tying goal with 11:13 remaining in regulation Tuesday and Jason Pominville was the only player to beat either goalie in a shootout for a 3-2 shootout win over the Vancouver Canucks. It was second consecutive game Minnesota came back to tie and win the extra point. Three days earlier the Wild did the same at against Colorado.

Despite the comeback, head coach Mike Yeo thought it took a bit for his team to adjust against the Canucks.

“I thought in the first couple periods we had a little residue from the road. We looked a little bit flat at times, didn’t have the same jump at times, but our guys dig deep and two games in a row where we’re down after two periods to come back and get a win,” Minnesota’s head coach said. “It says a lot about our group.”

Still, Tuesday’s game saw a solid performance from Wild captain Mikko Koivu. The Canucks got on the board first when Jannik Hansen took advantage of a three-on-two break and one-timed a Daniel Sedin pass past Josh Harding 8:46 into the game, but Zach Parise tied it three minutes later when Koivu found him on the backdoor for a power play goal.

He also set up Coyle on the team’s second goal for his 20^th assist of the season.

“It was a great play,” said Charlie Coyle, who once again is thriving offensively while playing on Minnesota’s top line alongside Koivu and Parise.

Vancouver, playing Minnesota for the first time since the two teams, whose rivalry was heated during the Wild’s early years, left the Northwest Division last season, entered the game on a seven game winning streak. It didn’t feel like the rivalry picked up outside of the shootout, where the sellout crowd of 18,531 just wanted to see a hard-fought win. Instead the Canucks looked like a team playing hot hockey for most of the first two periods.

Roberto Luongo normally struggles at the Xcel Energy Center yet made 30 saves for Vancouver. Maybe it was the end of being division foes, but he appeared to be getting the monkey off his back

If it wasn’t for Josh Harding and Minnesota continuing to find something deep in the third period, that is.

“Hards made some big saves and it really brings a lot of life to the bench,” Jason Pominville said of his goalie making 29 saves. “We feed off that, off the energy that he brings.”

The Wild out-shot Vancouver 11-5 in the third period while both Mikko Koivu and Marco Scandella had scoring chances in the extra session. It felt as if the longer the game went on, the more chances Minnesota was able to generate.

“We started shooting more for sure,” Yeo said. “It’s something we talked about in the morning before the game and didn’t seem to fully grasp it until intermission. We have to be like that. I think it helped to create a lot more for us. “

By the time the shootout came, where Koivu and Mike Santorelli both hit the crossbar before Pominville beat Luongo on a shot he decided on at the last minute, the transformation was complete. Minnesota is a league-best 14-3-2 at home and for one night, got the chance to, like the win at Colorado, build upon it.

Now comes the hard part. The Wild leaves for four games on the road beginning Thursday in Pittsburgh. While the play has improved, the wins haven’t. Minnesota went 1-2-0 in the previous three game road trip with only the comeback victory against the Avalanche. Maybe keeping Parise, Koivu and Coyle together with Pominville spending time on the second line is a recipe for more success.

Regardless, for one night Minnesota was able to treat what could be another road game as a possible spark for the real thing.

“It’s nice to get back here for sure,” Pominville said. “We’ve had success at home throughout the season, so anytime we come here we feel confident to win a game and tonight was a good example of it. We were down and stuck with it and found a way, but obviously we’re going to have to sharpen up on the road and try to improve our road record.”

The post Just Passing Through appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Featured Image:
Josh Harding is standing tall against his opponents both external and internal. (MHM Photo / Jordan Doffing)

We always love to root for the underdog.

But Wild goalie Josh Harding refuses to wear that label.

A career back up with the Wild, the 29- year-old from Saskatoon, was blind sided in September of 2012 harder than an errant forward on a tear in his crease, and equally as sobering, when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

As anyone of us would, he had his time for shock, disappointment and despair. Like many of us hope we would, he chose to leave those feelings behind and not let the disease define him.

There were many that considered him done, his career finished. Declaring that there was no way a goalie could survive in the National Hockey League with such a mysterious and potentially debilitating disease. Josh Harding had a long road ahead but he took it all in stride.

Last postseason, in the moments before the team’s first playoff game against Chicago, starter Nik Backstrom went down with an injury (which we would find out later was a sports hernia). In came Harding – just his second start since missing more than two months while figuring out the correct medication to manage his M.S.. He made 35 saves on the night, though the team lost 2-1 in overtime.

He had every right after the game to have a message to the disbelievers. To proclaim, ‘See! I can do this’. Instead he declined to talk about his illness and his personal triumph. He just wanted to talk about his team. In fact throughout the playoffs—a stretch in which he played well—he refused to talk about his sickness not wanting it to be a distraction. While athletes hate cliché about moral victories, this was clearly one for Josh Harding.

Because of his courageousness last year he was award the Bill Masterton Memorial award, given to the NHL player who “best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey”. Harding’s dedication to the game through struggle earned him the award, but his dedication to his affliction is earning him respect everywhere.

Harding has embraced his M.S. and has decided to turn the tables on it. The past summer he started his own charity called ‘Harding’s Hope’ that helps to raise money and awareness for M.S.. Josh worked tirelessly to promote it this offseason. He made the rounds to TV stations, talking with reporters and helped to plan events, all to help those who needed it.

On his Harding’s Hope website he begins with this message: ‘My goal with this charity is to give hope to people that have MS and let them know that they are not alone’. Harding has become a member of a team he never asked to be a part of and he’s become their most valuable player. Using his stardom and connections to get the word out and help those just like him.

In our current culture of professional sports in which so many athletes fail in their responsibility of being role models, Josh Harding is a breath of fresh air. He is now a walking, talking, hockey-playing billboard in the fight against M.S. and he is winning. Harding is off to a phenomenal start to the 2013-2014 season: He’s 8-2-1 and his .951 save percentage and 1.09 goals against average are first in the league, but those numbers don’t count. The one that does is the #37. Every time it’s on the ice, playing well or just playing at all, it’s an inspiration to one more person who thinks that their life is over because of M.S. or, for that matter, any debilitating disease. Harding is proving everybody wrong.

For how long, we don’t know. This is uncharted territory in the NHL. But there are so many that are hoping he’ll continue to succeed and inspire those around him and Josh is number one on that list. Not because he wants to brag, but rather be a beacon of hope.

And so far that is one fight he is far from an underdog; he is, in fact, an overwhelming favorite.

The post Schwartz: No Underdog In This Fight appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Featured Image:
Wild goaltender Josh Harding raised his record to 7-2-1 after shutting out New Jersey on Nov. 3, 2013 in St. Paul, Minn. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

The Minnesota Wild gritted out a 4-0 win over the New Jersey Devils Sunday night at the Xcel Energy Center before 17,571 spectators and claimed third place in the Central Division.

The win is Minnesota’s fifth in six games and underscores that playing well might be fine, but in the cluttered Western Conference, they will be required to be even better as it appears the margin of error for a playoff berth will be slim.

After surviving an energized Devils team in the first period, it was the Wild who owned the 1-0 lead over the goal-starved New Jersey club who haven’t scored a goal in 149:05 of play.  After being outshot 10-8 in the first period, the Wild relied on goaltender Josh Harding to put them in position to find their game.  He faced three Devils power plays in the first stanza and held New Jersey at bay.  Harding was asked to make just nine more saves over the final two periods to pick up the shutout.

Deflecting praise, Harding credited his penalty killers in making his job easier in the first period.  “The killers were doing pretty much everything right getting the puck down, getting in the lanes,” Harding said.  “That was probably the story early on, the guys battled hard after that and we got to our game.”

Harding leads the NHL with a 1.11 goals against average and .950 save percentage.  He upped his record to 7-2-1 this season and carries a league leading 6-0-0 record at home.  This season, no other goaltender has earned more than three victories on home ice without picking up a loss.  He is a remarkable 21-4-1 at the Xcel Energy Center since Jan. 27, 2010.

“The guys are making it easy,” Harding said of his success.  “It’s never about one player. We win as a team, we lose as team we always say and this is another team win.”

Mikael Granlund scored the game’s first goal at 13:20 of the first period and switched roles with Jason Pominville who picked up the second assist on the tally. It was the first goal of the season for Granlund and the second assist this year for Pominville, who has been Granlund’s go-to goal scorer so far.

Nino Niederreiter also had an assist on the Granlund’s goal and finished the game with three helpers for Minnesota and that marked his first multi-point game of his career.  He now has (3g-6a-9pts) in 15 games this season which is six more than he brought to Minnesota (2g-1a-3pts) in 64 career games with the New York Islanders.  Niederreiter is also in the midst of his first career point-streak with four points (1g-3a-4pts) over the last two contests.

Torrey Mitchell added a greasy goal to the ledger as he scored off a rebound allowed by Devils goalie Cory Schneider.  The shot originated from former Devil Zach Parise who was facing his former club for the first time.

“As a player, you always hate practicing and scrimmaging against your own team,” Parise said. “That’s what it felt like for me the whole game.  They don’t give you much, they play well systematically, there is not a lot of room out there. Fortunately, we were pretty opportunistic; when we did have the chances, we put them in.”

Harding pointed to the entire team effort that included nine different players picking up points Sunday night.  “Everyone contributed, pulled their weight and, more than anything, it’s good to show Zach (Parise) that everybody put in a good effort for what he has all done for this club. It was a good win for us and for him,” Harding said.

In the third period, Dany Heatley scored off a deflection for his second goal of the season and Pominville added an empty net goal for his 10th of the season.  Despite winning five of the last six games, the Wild have to maintain that effort as the Western Conference continues to keep pace with each other.

Nine of the top 13 teams in the NHL reside in the Western Conference and they hold a stunning  44-13-6 record against Eastern Conference teams.  Eventually, the West will focus on the West.  Divisional and conference games will have even more meaning as teams position for the post season, even now.  One such game for the Wild is on deck as the Pacific Division’s Calgary Flames invade St. Paul on Tuesday night.

The post Keeping Pace appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Featured Image:
Minnesota defenseman Keith Ballard passes the puck up the ice in the second period of the Wild’s 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 1, 2013, in St. Paul, Minn. Friday (MHM Photo / Jordan Doffing)

Keith Ballard leads a quartet of Wild wounded back to the Minnesota lineup.

A crowd of 18,207 Wild fans welcomed freshly shaven Movember faces and a collection of fresh-off-the-IR hockey players on Friday at the Xcel Energy Center where the Wild won a hard-fought game against the Montreal Canadiens 4-3. Minnesota saw the return of Keith Ballard, Jonas Brodin, Josh Harding and Charlie Coyle while the Canadiens welcomed back their seasoned tough guy and master of the mustache, George Parros.

Minnesota received solid contributions from its returnees beginning with Harding who made 28 saves in raising his record to 6-2-1 on the season including 5-0-0 at home. Brodin wore a full face shield after missing three games with a broken cheekbone and led the team with 26:54 of ice time. Coyle logged 18:23 in his return from an 11-game absence due to a knee strain and Ballard chipped in a pair of assists and was a plus-2 in his debut following a seven-game hiatus with an upper-body injury.

When an injured player returns to the lineup, pressure from external influences not only plays a role, but in some cases internal pressure can affect how a player performs as well.

“Some guys tend to beat themselves down a little bit too much and that can wear on you,” Ballard said. “You can almost talk yourself into thinking you aren’t doing anything well when actually, you are. I try to just take a step back and take a broad perspective.”

Keith Ballard picked up two assists in
Friday night’s game against
Montreal, his first since being injured.
(MHM Photo / Jordan Doffing)

Ballard is a realist when it comes to his return to the ice and spoke candidly about his first night back in the lineup, saying his performance was close to what he expected.

“I think there were some good moments, I thought there were some OK moments,” Ballard said. “It was more trying to keep myself out of trouble; make smart plays, not over-extend anything as far as shifts or what I’m trying to do with the puck or run around or anything like that.”

While Ballard felt his play was OK to good, Wild coach Mike Yeo was clearly pleased to have the former Gopher defenseman, and Baudette native, back in the lineup for multiple reasons.

“Obviously, offensively he adds a lot to us on the blue line with his ability to move along the blue line to open lanes to get shots through,” Yeo said. “But defensively he’s just such a strong skater and he relieves so much pressure.

“He’s got that first two steps that he can get himself out of trouble and have the composure to make a play from there too.”

To be a strong defenseman in the NHL is already enough of a challenge, but facing sitting out and returning just as the season begins to heat up can be a daunting task for any player.

“As the season goes on everybody gets sharper, teams get a little more crisp, so it’s tough to jump into the lineup and expect perfection,” said Ballard. “As a player it’s up to you. I try to simplify my game when I’ve been out a bit and that’s worked for me in the past and I think tonight was about where I want to be.”

While Ballard may be back and everyone felt his play was up to par, the Minnesota native pointed out injury or not, there is always room for improvement.

“I think my execution needs to be a bit sharper … you can play 30 games in a row and there will still be games you don’t execute,” he explained. “So I don’t think it’s about being out or not being out, I think I just need to sharpen up a little bit.”

As Ballard’s continues to sharpen his game it can mean only one thing for the Wild, a force on the blue line other teams will envy … if they don’t already.

**Be sure to follow @MNHockeyMag for all the latest news and information on your favorite Minnesota teams! You can also follow the author of this article @AmySnow17!**

The post Back on the Blue Line appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.